Mooring buoy



Nov. 26, 1957 H. E. PHILLIPS 2,814,055

MooRING BUOY Filed Feb, 14, 1955 2 sheets-sheet 1 il l lllll 1' 'F'ffj''u 75` IN1/ENT.

l-IERMoN E. PHI Ps,

Nov. 26, 1957 H. E. PHILLIPS 2,814,055

. 'MooRING Buoy Filed Feb. 14, 1955 v 2 sheets-sneer 2 INVENTOR.`

HERMONEPHILLIPS.

32A/MJ $25151.

l ATTORNEY.

United States ,Patent O MOORING BUOY Hermon E. Phillips, Angola, Ind. Application February 14, 1955, Serial No. 487,759

2 Claims. (Cl. 9 8) This invention relates to buoy which finds its prim-ary utility 'as a mooring buoy for use in tethering a boat or other floating craft.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a sturdy mooring buoy which is relatively simple in construction,

ldependable in use and economical to manufacture.

a normally inflated annulus which forms a part of the Y buoy should become unintentionally deflated while afloat.

A further object is to provide an extremely-inexpensive buoy so constructed as to minimize the hazard of darnage to such craft or to the buoy as a result of collision.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described, so long Vas the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. l is a transverse section of one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of another embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of several of the parts of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3, showing these parts in separated relation for purposes of clarity; vand Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, transverse section of another embodiment of my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that i have provided a cylindrical block or member 1. This block 1 is preferably formed of a buoyant material such as foam Plexiglas or wood. An upper member 2 is formed by an upper disc 3 integral with a brightly colored, hollow, conical member 4. Upper disc 3 and conical member 4 may be molded together as one piece or may be separately formed and subsequently secured together in any suitable manner. Upper disc 3 and conical member 4 may be formed of the same material or may be of relatively different materials. These members may be made of wood, metal or a suitable plastic material. As is apparent from the drawings, conical member 4 terminates at its upper tip in a rounded nose. In faceto-face engagement with the bottom surface of block 1 is a lower disc 5. Passing through a substantially centrally located perforation in the nose of conical member 2,814,055 Patented Nov. 26, 1957 4, through aperture 7 in block 1 and through perforation 8 in lower disc 5 is a vertically adjustable eye-bolt 6. Nuts 9 and 10 engaged on threaded portions `11 and 12, respectively, on the eye-bolt securely clamp upper member 2, block 1 and lower disc 5 together to form the frame or body ofthe buoy. The eye 13 at the upper end of eye-bolt 6 provides attachment means for a boat painter or the like. Nuts 14 and 15 on threaded portion 11 of the eye-bolt 6 secure ring 16 in vertically adjusted position thereon. Ring 16 provides means for attachment of the buoy to an anchor Vor other object.

It will be seen that the radially outer edge portions of disc members 33 and 5 respectively, form the side walls of a channeled peripheral seating means. The radially inner face of the channel is formed by the radially outer surface of cylindrical member 1. Thisvchannel-snugly receives a flexible, inflatable, buoyant annulus 17 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which may be iniiated by means of a suitable pump connected to valve 18. The annulus 17 may be in the form of an inner tube of a conventional automobile tire, or a specially manufactured air-tight bag in the form of a toroid. Still another form which the annulus may take is illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein the annulus is shown as being an inner tube 26 enclosed within a conventional automobile tire casing 27. Tire casing 27 may or may not be provided with side engaging lugs 2S, 28, as desired. Since in each embodiment of my invention the extreme radial periphery of the buoy is formed by a flexible, inated annulus, damage to the buoy, or to a tethered craft or other object due to collision is minimized. it is apparent from Fig. l that annulus 17 may be inflated to the point where depressions 21 in the surface of the annulus are formed by the radially outer edges of the members 3 and 5.

Another embodiment of my invention is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. in this embodiment upper member 22 is formed by two separate and detachable members 23 and 24. Upper disc member Z3 is annular in form and as is the case with member 3 in the previous embodiment, lies in face-to-face engagement with the upper surface of cylindrical member 1. At the upper surface of upper disc 23, and spaced radially inwardly from the radially outer edge thereof, a circular rib 25 is provided. Cone 24, in operative position, is clamped with its base in engagement with the radially inner edge of the rib. Obviously, as nuts 9 and 10 are tightened lalong bolt 6, they tend to spread the base of member 24 into secure engagement with rib 25. The rest of the structure of this embodiment is the same as that of the embodiment illustrated in Figs. l and 2.

One disadvantage with prior constructions which utilized an inflatable member to render the device buoyant, is that occasionally the inflatable member became punctured or otherwise deiiated and the buoy, of course, sank. This contingency is obviated by my preferred construction, however, due to the fact that block 1 is formed of a buoyant material such as foam Plexiglas, wood or the like. In the event the inflatable annulus provided in my buoy construction should become deflated, buoyant member 1 would maintain the buoy in operative, floating condition.

I claim as my invention:

l. A buoy :comprising a body portion provided with seating means in the form of a radially-outwardly-facing channel, an iniiatable, buoyant annulus snugly received in said seating means, means carried by said body portion for attachment to an anchor or other object, said body portion including a buoyant, cylindrical member having a radially outer surface which forms the axially inner said di'sc members at their radially outward portions forming the side faces of said channel, said upper disc member being provided With a circular rib on its upper surface, andan upright, hollow conical member having a base, said conical member being detachably clamped against the upper surface of said upper disc member with the base thereof in engagement with said rib.

2. A buoy comprising a body portion provided with seating means in the form of a radially-outwardly-facing channel, an inatable, buoyant annulus snugly received in said seating means, means carried by said body portion for attachment to an anchor or other object, said body p ortion including a buoyant, cylindrical member having a radially outer surface which forms the axially inner face of said channel, upper and lower disc members clamped in face-to-face engagement against the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, o said cylindrical 1nember, said disc members at their radially outward portions forming the side faces of said channel, and an upright, hollow cone which is integral at its lowermost portion with the upper surface of said upper disc and tapers to a rounded tip at its uppermost portion.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Yachting, January 1950, page 138. 

